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| Matt Manship answered your questions when he stopped by the gostanford.com chat room on Thursday, March 30 (5 pm, PT) |
See what Stanford's closer turned starter had to say when he answered your questions in the gostanford.com chat room on Thursday, March 30.
Matt Manship Chat Wrap
Check Out What Matt Say
Stanford, Calif. - Stanford senior pitcher Matt Manship answered your questions when he stopped by the gostanford.com chat room after practice on Thursday, March 30 (5 pm, PT) on the eve of Stanford's Pac-10 series versus USC this Friday-Sunday (6 pm, 1 pm, 1 pm, PT). All three games of the series will be broadcast live on KZSU 90.1 FM and from a link at gostanford.com with Alex Gyr on the microphone. Advanced tickets are available by calling 800-STANFORD or online at gostanford.com.
The session will continue a series of regular chats with Stanford Baseball players and coaches throughout the 2006 campaign. If you have some questions for Matt ahead of time, please feel free to post them now and we will save them for his arrival on Friday, or feel free to join the live chat session beginning at 5 pm, PT.
Manship (1-2, 5.28, 30.2 IP, 20 SO) has put together several solid performances in 2006 in his first year as a regular member of the team's starting pitching rotation after spending his first three seasons primarily as Stanford's closer. He came through with his top performance of the season in a clutch game against Washington State last Monday, picking up his first win of the season and helping the Cardinal avoid a sweep by allowing just two runs and spreading out nine hits over 6.1 innings in his longest start of the season.
Manship recorded 17 saves during his first three campaigns on The Farm to rank tied for second on the school's all-time saves list. He also has a career 5-6 record to go with a stellar 3.61 ERA and an opponents' batting average of just .244 with 124 strikeouts in 162.0 innings of work.
He will long be remembered for his performance at the 2005 NCAA Waco Regional when he saved both ends of Stanford's sweep of Texas-San Antonio and TCU to move the Cardinal into the Regional finals the following day, retiring all 17 batters he faced in the process.
• Matt Manship Bio
• Getting To Know Matt
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Matt Manship: Hey everyone, I'm here a little early and am ready to start taking questions. |
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| Chace, Scotts Valley: What is it like at Stanford University. I know it is very high in academics, but I also here thet you guys like to have a little fun. |
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Matt Manship: It is tough to handle the academics at times but as you go through college you learn to manage your time. And yes, we like to have fun, it is college after all. |
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| Harry: Is it bad for pitchers to crack their elbows during the school day? |
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Matt Manship: I sure hope not, I do it almost daily. |
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| Hagrid: As a pitcher, when I balk, it usually do so after I come set and try to change pitches by taking my hand out of my glove to change my grip. Any pointers? When you pitch, do you have your grip on the ball before the catcher gives the signal and just shake off the sign until he gives the sign for the gripped ball you have? |
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Matt Manship: That is something you just have to practice because you have to be able to change grips at any point before you start your windup, sometimes even during your windup. |
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| Jenny (Mountain View): Matt, I've enjoyed watching you pitch during your career here, and I'll be sorry when you're done. How big is the adjustment moving from a reliever to a starter this year? Which do you like better? Good luck the rest of the season! |
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Matt Manship: The biggest two differences when changing to a starter are endurance and mixing your pitches. From hitter to hitter though, nothing changes, you still have to attack them like you would in any other role whether it is the first inning or the ninth. It is hard to say what I like better but I definitely enjoy the daily routine of a starter over a reliever. Thanks, Jenny! |
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| john buchman redwood city: Did you ever play little league and if so what league and how did you do? |
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Matt Manship: I played little league from the age of 5 all the way through 15. I learned how to play the game over those ten years at McAllister Park Little League in San Antonio and wouldn't trade those memories for anything. |
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| Mr. Garrison (Colorado): What song would you come out to pitch to if you could pick? |
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Matt Manship: There are a lot of songs I would choose but right now it would be "The Final Countdown" by Europe. |
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| darien, ct: As a stanford player and student which is more challenging, school or baseball? |
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Matt Manship: It really depends on what quarter we are in because I'll adjust my schedule accordingly. In the fall school is more difficult and baseball is more difficult in the spring. |
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| jack darien, ct: Is sunken diamond a pitchers or hitters park? Which park is toughest to pitch in the Pac 10? |
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Matt Manship: Sunken Diamond has a lot of foul territory which definitely helps the pitchers out. I think Cal is the toughest to pitch in because it is always windy and the left field wall is closer than most fields. |
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| Dwight S. (Scranton): Outside of baseball, what are your preferred extracurricular activities? |
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Matt Manship: Watching "The Office." |
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| Dwight S. (Scranton): I've heard through the grapevine that you're an economics major...what attracted you to this major? |
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Matt Manship: It would have to be the prospect of becoming a regional manager at Dunder Mifflin. |
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| Jack (Darien CT): Is Arizona tough to pitch in with the light air? |
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Matt Manship: Sometimes pitching in Arizona makes you feel like you are pitching on the moon. |
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| Mr. Brown (San Francisco): Playing baseball for four years at Stanford must take a toll on your body. How do you stay healthy? You must have great athletic trainers working with you. |
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Matt Manship: Stretching is probably the key to staying healthy over the course of a season. And yes, our trainers our great, but the one we have now is not measuring up to our old trainer, Tomoo Yamada. |
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| Richard, Woodside: Matt, I'm a long time fan. I've been following you since your phenomenal freshman year. As a senior, do you feel more pressure to perform than say when you were a freshman or do you feel that being in the program for three years guarantees playing time? Good luck this weekend, beat the Trojans! |
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Matt Manship: The only pressure I feel as a senior is to make the most out of my last year here. There is never a guarantee for playing time, our coaches must have confidence in you to play whether you are a newcomer or not. Thanks. |
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| Derrick Brown, Stanford: I don't measure up huh? Well thank you Manny, you can wrap your own arm from now on!! |
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Matt Manship: Haha, sorry Derrick. |
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| Anon: I heard rumors that you were an excellent boxer. Is it in fact true that you won all but one bout in a recent boxing tournament, or is that just a rumor? |
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Matt Manship: That is no rumor and I would attribute my success to my rapid fire approach, which earned me the nickname, "Machine Gun Manny." |
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| jack darien, ct: Being from Texas did you look into going to Texas A&M or the University of Texas? Why did you choose Stanford? |
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Matt Manship: I looked at both but I wanted to go to school out of state and when Stanford offered I jumped on that opportunity. |
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| George (New York): Have you ever thought of becoming a marine biologist? |
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Matt Manship: That or an architect. |
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| Jenny, Stanford: Clearly, professional baseball will be your next goal baseball-wise, but when you're done with baseball, what do you want to do? |
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Matt Manship: That is a tough question. Right now, I want to go to business school. If I could come back to Stanford for that I would do it in a heartbeat. |
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| Hank (PA): Hey Matt,
USC can hit as we saw a few weeks ago! The staff struggled last time. What adjustments need to be made to have better success? Thanks. |
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Matt Manship: We just need to be more prepared for their style of play this time around and make the necessary adjustments. |
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| Scott (Whittier, Ca): Do you wish you were still a closer? You were well on your way to being the Eric Gagne of college baseball. |
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Matt Manship: Well Scott, as nice as it would have been to be in the same company as Eric Gagne, I'm afraid no one can measure up to his ability, except a San Francisco Giant. |
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| Paul (Darien CT): Are the girls better looking in Texas or in Cal.? |
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Matt Manship: Texas, no question. |
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| N. Liz Mills (Palo Alto): What does your diet consist of during the season? |
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Matt Manship: Eating as much as I can whenever I can because weekends are long during the season. |
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| crocodile (palo alto): Which team is your favorite opponent to pitch against and does this differ depending upon whether you are starting or relieving? |
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Matt Manship: My favorite team to pitch against is any team from Texas because I grew up watching these teams. There is no difference in preference between starting or relieving in this case. |
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| Jack (Darien CT): Do you have any superstitions before you pitch? |
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Matt Manship: Most pitchers do, but I have never had any superstitions except for not stepping on the foul line. |
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| Nji Nnamani (Bloomington/Stanford): HEY MATT!!! I am a huge fan, I am always sitting in the front row, and I was just wondering...what is your favorite food? and if you could trade places (for a day) with another Stanford athlete who would it be? Good luck with the rest of the season, and if you are free come play some sand volleyball with my team!
Nji |
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Matt Manship: Hey Nji, I would love to play volleyball with yall sometime. My favorite food is pizza from Wilbur Dining currently and I would trade places with Krista Rapapan. |
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| Hector (Bies): Matthew,
Congrats on last week's performance. What are your plans for this quarter now that you're done with school and how do you handle the attention from having such a distinguished jaw-bone? |
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Matt Manship: It's difficult, Bies, Ive received a lot of questions about it. I'm working now in the mornings since I graduated. Thanks and best of luck. I'm still jealous about the pool house. |
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Matt Manship: Thanks for all of the great questions. I hope many of you will come out and support us this weekend against USC and the weekends to come. |
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